Disclaimer: This is just a story. And it's about a Marine. Not a real one, of course. Kind of a melding of a lot of them I've known in my life. Any resemblance to any actual Marine is purely coincidence - but if there is, I do wish he'd write me! Anyway, you know the drill, if you don't like sex between males, what are you doing here? And if your Country, State, Province, City, Town or Village won't let you read this kind of stuff - MOVE!!! Somewhere where you can!
Oh, one more thing. This story is dedicated to my friend PUP, who just LOVES Marines and stories about them. I hope he loves this one. And I kind of hope it would come true for him.
THE MARINE NEXT DOOR - Part 7 by RimPig (c) 2002
The next three years were really busy ones for Ty and me. I was in Nursing School while Ty, Domingo and Tim were getting their auto repair business going. Mom, in the mean time, got promoted to Supervisor of Nursing for the hospital and decided that she wanted to buy a house. She found a beautiful little place and moved out of the apartment. This left Ty and me with a decision. Either live with Domingo and Tim, find another apartment or take over Mom's. In the end, we decided that things were going well enough with the business that Tim and Domingo could handle the apartment on their own now and Ty and I decided it would be less hassle just to take over Mom's apartment.
The Nursing School graduation was on a sunny Sunday morning. It was held in the hospital's auditorium. Not to blow my own horn or anything, but I was the Valedictorian of the class and when I came forward to receive my diploma and the Nursing Pin I would wear for the rest of my professional career - it was Mom who pinned it on me. There were tears in both our eyes as she did. There we stood, two generations of Nurses, our lives dedicated to the sick and suffering. Also there were three former Marines: Ty, Domingo and Tim who let out the famous "Hoo! Rah!" battle cry of the Marines as Mom pinned me.
I began work at the hospital the next day. I had actually been there for a year doing my practicum, but now I would finally be getting paid. My Mom met me at the entrance to the Human Resources department when I showed up that morning to sign the necessary papers to put me on the hospital's payroll. We then went to her office to talk about my initial assignment.
"Brian, I know you've worked in practically every department of the hospital over the past year. Do you have any idea where you'd like to work? Not that you'll necessarily get that assignment immediately - even if your mother is Supervisor of Nursing!" she laughed.
"Mom, there are so many interesting places - especially in surgery. But there is only one place that I feel that I'm really needed here." I said. "Mom, I want to work on 4 North ."
4 North Tower was the 4th floor of the North Tower of the hospital. It was the location of the AIDS ward, commonly called among the staff '4 North'.
"I can understand that. And I kind of expected you to say that. As you probably know, it's not a place that we have an over-abundance of nurses wanting to work. In fact, we just lost the ward supervisor last week. She and her husband are moving out of state because he got a better job back east. I'm afraid, Brian, that you're not only going to be assigned to 4 North, you're going to be assigned as supervisor of it." Mom said.
"You've got to be kidding! I'm just out of Nursing School! I can't supervise a ward!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, Brian, you can! Honey, I've watched you. You have a natural gift for dealing with people. Not just patients, but staff, too! I can't tell you how many staff from the different departments you've worked in have come to my office to tell me how wonderful you are and to beg me to assign you to them! This IS something you can do, Brian." she said, with more confidence in her voice than I was feeling. "And remember, sweetie, I am the Supervisor of Nursing. You have me behind you to help you in whatever way I can."
"But aren't people going to resent me becoming supervisor with so little experience? Aren't they going to think it's only because I'm your son?" I asked.
"No. First of all, nobody in the ward wanted the job. They were all happy in what they were doing. And I met with the entire staff last week to discuss this with them. I was hoping I could get one of them to change their mind and take over the supervisor's role. Instead, it was the staff that suggested you!" she told me.
I was flabbergasted! Sure, I'd worked on that ward for a 3 month rotation and had volunteered there at other times when they were short staffed. And, yes, I'd made friends among the other nurses there, but I hardly expected something like this.
"Look, Brian." Mom said. "You staff is waiting for you in the staff lounge up there. Why don't you go and talk to them about it?"
I thanked Mom and headed upstairs. I expected to meet with the staff of 4 North at the regular staff meeting that I remember from when I was assigned there for training. Instead, on entering the staff lounge I heard a tremendous cheer and there stood all the staff cheering and applauding! A huge banner hung across the ceiling saying "Welcome Brian!" and there was a huge cake with a Nurse's cap on it and 'Congratulations To the New Ward Supervisor" written on it. One of the CNA's (Certified Nurse Assistants) had a camera and was quickly snapping picture. Everyone was crowding around and shaking my hand and congratulating me.
One of the nurses, Belle, who had been on the ward the longest - in fact was the first nurse who volunteered for the ward, came up to me and hugged me. Belle was Black, about 5'9" and weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. She was like the ward "mother". Many the night, I'd seen here sitting by the bedside of a patient who was lonely, scared or in pain, crooning lullabies and stroking their head or arm.
"Welcome home, Sweets! I told your Momma that you'd want to come here and we sure are happy to have you back!" she said.
I know that there were tears in my eyes as I looked around the room at what was now my staff. I knew they expected me to make a speech but I really didn't, at first, know what to say. But I knew that what I should do was tell them what was in my heart.
"I've got to tell you first thing that I am REALLY scared!" I started and they all laughed. "No! I mean it! I just graduated from Nursing School yesterday! I never expected to be standing here as a supervisor today. But, it's your own fault that I am! Mom told me that none of you wanted this job. So you all stuck me with it! And I thought you were my friends!" I joked and the room broke into laughter again.
"Seriously, though. I can't do this job. At least I can't do it alone. I need your help. You all have been here for a long time. Some of you, like Belle, from the very beginning of this epidemic. All of us know how we've had to fight to get this ward the best of anything this hospital has to offer. The best staff, the best facilities, the best equipment. And we have to continue to fight for those things. I promise you, that with your help, we will succeed." I said to cheers from the staff.
"I want you to know, my door is always open. If you have a problem, come talk to me. Let's see if we can work it out together. But my door is going to be a revolving one. Don't be surprised when I ask you to come talk to me to help solve a problem that I've got! We're all in this together. We've got to be here for the patients and here for each other. That's the only way I see this thing working. So, how about it? What do you think?" I asked of the group.
The first one to speak up was Belle.
"Honey, ain't no big thing! You've got everybody in this room pulling for you and willing to help. And if they ain't, well they just better get off this floor before I run them off!" She said, looking at everyone in the room with a look of mock fierceness.
"Thanks, Belle. I know I can always count on you." I said.
Next was a CNA named Rolf. Rolf was about 20 and was one of a number of gay men who worked on the ward. Rolf and I had worked together during my training here and I learned to respect him. He was really good with the patients, making them laugh - even during times of pain. Rolf was kind of the ward comedian.
"Well...We of course know that you didn't get this job because you're mother is Supervisor of Nursing because if that was the case, she sure would have been kinder to her own son!" Rolf said and everybody laughed.
I was grateful to him for that. It dispelled whatever possible rancor there could have been over my relationship with Mom.
"Now, you do have to wonder though, what training Brian has as a supervisor, except we all know that his partner was a Marine Lance Corporal. I guess we'll all be happy that he didn't get any help from Ty!" and again everybody laughed.
It was well known on the ward that Ty was my lover and that he was a former Marine. Ty, Domingo and Tim had all visited the ward while I was in training there. I was hoping to get them involved with an idea I had which I thought I share with the staff.
"That brings up something I do want to talk seriously about something with you all." I said and the room quieted down.
"Yes, it's true that Ty is a former Marine as are his business partners, Tim and Domingo. They still have strong ties to the Marine base they served at near here and know a lot of men still in the Corps. I have an idea I'd like your feedback on. You all know how short staffed we are here all the time. You know that we have a lot of patients that nobody ever comes to visit, who are cut off from their families either by their own choice or because the family disowned them. There are a lot of things around here that needs hands and bodies that are not necessarily skilled in medicine or nursing. I think we could get a bunch of the Marines from that base to volunteer here and give us that help. What do you all think? How would you feel about having them here?" I asked.
The staff looked at each other for a moment and, just for a second, I thought they were going to reject the idea. Instead, they all started cheering and talking at once, saying what a great idea it was and could we get the Marines "to land" today? I laughed and told them that I still had to talk to Mom about it and get clearance from the hospital administration and to talk with the Commander of the Marine base as well, but I hoped we could get something started within two to three weeks.
It actually took close to six weeks, but suddenly the ward was filled with young, eager Marines. It was disconcerting to some of the nurse to be called "Sir" all the time, but they soon got used to it. The wonderful thing about Marines, they not only know how to take orders, but they are trained to have initiative. Once they young men understood the routines around the ward, we hardly ever had to ask for something to be done - it just was.
There was a so-called 'patient's lounge' which was a very dreary room with just an old couch, a couple of chairs and an old card table in it. I wanted to turn it into a place where patients could get together and talk. Many of our patients were young and had to spend weeks - sometimes even months - in the hospital. I wanted to create a place where they could go and not feel so much like they were in an 'institution'. I mentioned this one day to one of the young Marines, and also mentioned that the hospital budget didn't allow for the type of 'makeover' that I wanted to do to the room.
Three days later, an entire platoon of Marines showed up with new furniture, a wide screen television, VCR and DVD player along with a X-Box unit. They also brought paint and repainted the room a bright blue. The room became, almost overnight, everything I had dreamed of an more! I got Ty to find out what platoon and what company the men who had done all this came from and two weeks later, on a Saturday afternoon, we hosted that entire Marine company and the base Commander. We unveiled a plaque which the nurses on the ward purchased, commemorating the names of all those Marine's who had contributed to the new lounge with the symbol of the US Marine Corps engraved at the top which we placed right next to the door to the room so everyone who ever used that room would be reminded of those Marine's kindness.
My only concern, with the young Marines, was that a lot of our patients were gay men. I wasn't exactly sure how these Marines would deal with this. I figured that their presence would have a very positive effect on our patients and I was right about that! What gay male could resist the charms of a masculine, 100% USDA Grade A Stud of a Marine?! But I was worried about how some of these young men - many of them straight (well, all of them outwardly straight for fear of being thrown out of the Corps.) - would deal with our patients.
I was working late one night, when I happened to pass by the room of one of the patients. Theo was an outrageous and flaming Queen who had been a female impersonator for many years. Theo was one of the favorite patients on the ward. He always had a cheerful or kind word for everyone. And he could tell the most outrageous stories about his life.
But Theo had not been doing so well for a few days now. He had brain lesions and we all knew there was little that could be done besides try and keep him out of pain. He was terminal and it was just a matter of time. Theo had no family. He did have friends who would come and visit every so often but none of them were really close to him.
I had meant to stop in and spend some time with him but when I got to the room, I could see one of the Marine master sergeants, a man with over 20 years in the Corps, sitting beside Theo's bed, holding his hand and talking quietly to him. I was completely blown away by this. I knew the man was straight, I'd seen pictures of his wife, his kids and his grandchildren. No two different people could you possible find than this Marine Master Sergeant and Theo, the outrageous Drag Queen. But there they were. A more tender scene I couldn't imagine.
The Sergeant saw me and got up from beside Theo's bed and came over to talk to me.
"How's he doing?" he asked me.
"It's really just a matter of time now. His body is rejecting all the medications, the virus has just about taken over and he has no immune system left. There's nothing to fight the lesions." I told him bluntly. I knew the Sergeant, you didn't have to sugar-coat things for this older fighting man.
"That's what I kind of figured. If you don't mind, I'll just spend a little more time with him. A man shouldn't be alone while he's dying." he told me.
I told him he could be there whenever he wanted and walked on down the hall. What the old Sergeant said really hit me. The straight world would not give Theo his due as a "man", given his lifestyle. But this old Marine could look past all of that and see Theo for what he really was, a courageous man, who had lived out his life the way he wanted, and had fought the society that told him he couldn't.
One morning, Belle came to me very distraught. There had been a new patient moved to the ward during the night. She was very concerned about him. She was afraid that he was going to try and commit suicide, he seemed so depressed. She asked me to evaluate him and see if we needed to get the doctor to order a psychiatric consult. She told me she had tried to reach him, but she felt a male would have a better chance. She didn't have to add the word 'gay' for me to get the picture.
I looked at the patient's chart. His name was Scott and he was only 16 years old! I couldn't, at first imagine why he was on our ward. He was HIV+, which was a tragedy at such a young age, but he had no symptoms or complications that would put him in 4 North. Then I started to read the doctor's notes about him.
Scott had been brought to the emergency room by the police last night. He had been the victim of a gay-bashing by a group of young males. Several of them were under arrest. When Scott was brought to the hospital, they ran an HIV test as part of the routine screens. Evidently, Scott did not know until then that he was HIV+. The doctor wanted to put him in a regular ward but Scott reacted strongly against being put anywhere there were "straight people". Evidently, the gay- bashing had, as usual, left worse psychological effects than physical ones.
I went to Scott's room and opened the door. He was out of bed and staring out the window with his back to me. He looked to be about 5'10" tall with blonde hair and what looked like a fairly nice, though thin, body.
"They built the place so that the windows don't open, so you can't jump from here. You'll have to use the roof. But the doors up there are locked." I said, startling him.
He turned around and looked at me. I smiled. He didn't.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" he said, his voice almost flat in its affect.
"Because I can imagine how I'd feel if I just found out that I had the virus." I said.
"Fuck!" he said, "that's just par for the course! Why not have fuckin' AIDS! That way I can just check out faster!"
I recognized macho bravura, commonly known as male bullshit, when I heard it! I walked over to him and got up right in his face.
"You listen to me, asshole! You are only 16 years old and without these bruises, I can see you are quite a young stud! You have a whole lifetime ahead of you! You don't need to be talking about dying! Fuck! You haven't even learned how to live yet!" I had learned some of Ty's "command voice" and I was sure using it here.
He flinched at my words and then I saw tears start to roll down his cheeks. He was really a scared little boy, trying to put up a brave and intimidating front which wasn't working at all! I took him in my arms and he leaned his head on my shoulder and started sobbing. I let him cry until he had himself under control. I then put him back in bed and sat down on the bed to talk.
"Ok, so tell me what happened?" I started.
He looked at me for a moment, figuring whether or not he could trust me.
"I was out looking to make some money so I'd have a place to sleep. These 5 dudes came out of nowhere and started hassling me. I could see they were drunk and stoned. That's the only reason they didn't kill me, too uncoordinated. The cops showed up and brought me here. They did the test and now I'm positive." he said, his head down, unable to look at me.
"You're awfully young to be hustling." I said.
His head snapped up at this. I guess he figured that I wouldn't know the score. I knew what he was doing on those streets, his looks and the fact that my Gaydar had gone off bigtime when I saw him, gave me all the information I needed.
"I gotta eat! I gotta have someplace other than the streets to sleep!" he said defensively.
"Why do you have to hustle? Where's your fucking family? Why isn't a kid your age living with his parents and going to school?" I asked.
"They fucking threw me out and disowned me when I was 15! That's why! They caught me in bed with a friend of mine and freaked. Said that no son of theirs was going to be a faggot! Then they told me to get out and never come back." he said.
"Well, I have to contact them. They're still your parents and hold legal responsibility for you. Unless you're an emancipated minor?" I asked.
"What's that?" he said.
"That's where you go to court and have yourself declared an adult. But to do that, you have to be somehow legally self-supporting. Selling your body will not count to a judge." I told him.
"Fat chance of that! I've tried to get a job. But I got no steady place to crash so I can't get work. Hustling is the only thing I'm good for!" he said defensively.
"Bullshit! You're way too good for hustling! You don't belong on those fucking streets. You need to be back in school. I'm going to talk to Social Services and see if we can't find someplace for you." I said.
"You do and I'll split out of here so fast you won't know what happened!" he threatened. "I don't want to live in no fucking foster home!" he all but screamed. He was showing real signs of fear which I didn't understand.
"Why the fuck not?" I asked.
"My best friend went to one of those places! He got fucking raped by the guy running it! I at least get paid for sex!" he said.
"Ok, calm down. Maybe we can figure something else out. You're going to be here for at least a couple of days while we take care of your injuries and get you set up with medical treatment. If you like, we can talk later. By the way, I'm Brian, I'm the supervisor here."
"Yeah, I heard about you already. You've got a lover who's a Marine." he said.
"Actually, he's a former Marine. Ty got out of the Corps because he didn't like hiding who he was." I said.
"Kewl! How long you guys been together?" he asked.
"It's been almost 4 years now." I told him.
"You still love him?" he asked.
"As if it's any of your business, yes, I do. More than the day I met him." I said.
"I've dreamed of finding someone who would love me. It's hard out on the street. You can't trust anybody. And you sure can't trust the fucking 'johns'. They all tell you they 'love' you. But they all want fresh meat, so after a few times, they're on to somebody else." he said.
I could hear the pain in his voice. He was almost cynical. He'd almost been taken over by the streets, but I could still hear the voice of a good, young male in him. I knew I had to work very hard to keep him from ending up back on those streets again.
Later that afternoon, I went back to his room to talk, but when I got there a 19 year old Marine by the name of Jason was sitting and talking to Scott. I knew Jason through Ty. Jason was a frequent customer of Ty's garage and we already knew that Jason was one of the gay Marine's hiding out his sexuality from the Corps until he could get out with an honorable discharge.
The look on Scott's face as he talked to Jason was incredible! He was grinning from ear to ear - quite different than the boy that Belle was afraid was suicidal! It was obvious that the cause of this joy was Jason. Scott couldn't seem to take his eyes off the young Marine and, from the looks of things, Jason seemed to be unable to stop looking at Scott. I left the two of them alone and went back to my office.
About an hour later, I heard a knock at my open door and looked up to see Jason standing there, a concerned look on his face.
"Hey! Jason. Come on in!" I said to the young Marine.
"Can I talk to you a minute?" Jason asked.
"A man as good looking as your are, Stud, you can talk to me for an hour!" I joked.
"Yeah, like you'd give me a second look with the guy you've got!" Jason laughed.
"Ahh, Ty's getting old! He's 26 now! Maybe I want to trade him in on a younger model! And you know I have a thing for Marines!" I laughed.
"Yeah, right! Like that's going to happen!" Jason joked.
"No, it isn't. It's true. I can't get that fucking Jarhead of mine out of my mind or my heart. So what can I do for you? As if I didn't know. Could it be you want to talk about a patient named Scott?" I grinned at him.
He was completely taken aback by this.
"How the fuck did you know that!" he asked.
"I walked down the hall a while ago to talk to Scott and saw you two together. I decided to leave you two alone and talk to Scott later. It was real obvious to me that you two were totally into each other." I said.
The young Marine blushed at my words.
"He's a really sweet guy. I gotta admit that he more than turns my crank." he admitted with a shy grin.
"Jason, you do realize why he's on this floor, don't you." I asked.
"Yeah. I know. He's got the virus. But that doesn't mean he's going to die, does it?" he asked.
"Jason, I don't really know how to answer that question. It's true that a lot of people with the virus are living a lot longer. Some for many years beyond what we used to expect. But there's still no cure." I told him.
"But how long does he have?" Jason asked.
"There's no answer for that! Some people have been known to live 10, 15 maybe even 20 years with the virus. But it's not predictable. It depends on how early we catch it, how they react to the medications. A lot of factors play into it. And if Scott goes back to living on the streets, there's no chance that he'll live very long." I explained.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Can't you do something to help him? Can't you get him off the streets somehow? I'll help. I thought maybe I could rent him an apartment or something." Jason offered.
"Jason, that's really sweet of you, but there's a lot more to it. Scott's only 16. He needs to be in somebody's care. He needs to be in treatment and he needs to be back in school. His parents have disowned him and he doesn't want to go into foster care - not that I blame him. I don't know what I can do!" I said in frustration.
"It's too bad that you couldn't like find him a family to take care of him." Jason said.
"Yes. But who wants a 16 year old gay boy who's been hustling on the streets and has HIV!" I retorted and then I saw the hurt look in Jason's eyes.
"I do." he said quietly.
"Oh, God! Jason! I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that! It's just that Scott is not the type of kid who's easy to place. The best thing would be to find a stable gay couple that might take him in. That would give him stability and also some positive gay role models. Something he isn't going to find out on the street." I mused.
"I know a couple like that!" Jason said.
"Who?" I asked.
"You and Ty." Jason said, his eyes boring right through me.
"Oh, Jason! You've got to be kidding! Ty and me?! We're not the kind of people he needs!" I said.
"Why not? You two are stable. You love each other more than any two guys I've ever known. You're a nurse and Ty's been a Marine. I think you could handle Scott pretty well!" Jason argued.
"Look, Jason." I said, feeling like maybe he did have something after all. "This is not a decision I could make alone. I'd have to talk to Ty about it and I don't know how happy he'd be with this idea."
"But you could ask him! Please! I don't want him going back out on the streets again! I'd take him myself but I don't get out for another two years yet! Please!" Jason begged.
"Ok. I'll ask Ty. But I'm certainly NOT promising anything. I don't know how he'll react to this." I told Jason.
"I know Ty. He's got a big heart behind that gruff exterior! I know if you tell him how it is, he'll say ok!" Jason enthused.
"Yes, he does have a big heart. That's true. But this is an awfully big request, too! I can't predict how he'll take it." I told him.
"You just ask him, ok?" Jason begged again.
"Ok. I promise I'll talk with him tonight. Now get the fuck out of my office before I change my mind!" I said.
"Yes, Sir!" Jason shouted like he was on a drill field and I was a DI.
I chuckled to myself as the young Marine high tailed it out of my office, heading down the hall. I figured he was heading back to Scott's room. I sat there for a while, thinking about what I was about to get myself into. I didn't know anything really about Scott. Only what my guts told me. I figured that I ought to at least check out part of his story.
I went to the desk and pulled his file. I got the names of his parents and sat down at my desk and called them. A woman answered the phone.
"Hello. My name is Brian Connors. I'm the nurse supervisor for the 4th Floor North of County General. Is this Mrs. Thomas?" I asked.
"Yes. Is something wrong? Is my husband there?" she asked, panic in her voice.
"No, ma'am. Your son, Scott, is." I informed her.
There was a long pause and then her voice came back, cold as a glacier.
"I don't have a son, Mr. Connors. Not anymore." she said.
"I don't understand?" I said, playing dumb.
"We want nothing to do with Scott. He is a deviant and a pervert. We don't want anything to do with him or his deviant lifestyle." she said, her voice dripping with judgement.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs. Thomas. I guess that Scott was telling me the truth about you and your husband. I just have one question for you. How do you get so stupid and uncaring as to throw away your own son!" I was practically screaming by the end and simply hung up on her before she could even answer.
Belle stuck her head in my office.
"You ok, honey?" she asked, giving me a look.
"Yes, Belle. I'm sorry. I just got off the phone with Scott's mother. What a bitch! She told me that she has no son because here son is a 'deviant and a pervert', to use her exact words!" I said, the anger still in my voice.
"There's just some people that need to be horse-whipped! No wonder that poor child's in the shape he's in!" Belle said.
"You know Jason, the young Marine who was up here today?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Well, looks like we have a budding romance and he's begging for Ty and me to give Scott a home." I told her.
"I think that sounds like a fine idea, honey! Certainly he couldn't find two nicer men to help him." she said.
"Belle! You're not supposed to say that! You're supposed to tell me how completely insane that is!" I told her.
"Child, you can't argue with the truth! It is a good idea. Where else is that poor boy going to go? His momma and daddy done thrown him out. You gonna put him back on those streets? You know what happens to boys like him out there! Part of it has already done happened!" she insisted.
"I know. I'm just scared of Ty's reaction to this. What if he doesn't like the idea? What then?" I moaned.
"Child, that man of yours is as big hearted as you are. You just tell him the situation and let him meet Scott. I think he'll be more in favor of this than you are!" Belle said.
"God! I hope you're right, Belle. I just hope you're right." I sighed.
Later that day, before I went home, I stopped into Scott's room to see how he was doing. Jason was still there with him but got up to leave when he saw me standing at the door to the room. I noticed that he leaned down and kissed Scott gently on the forehead before he left, saying that he was going down to the cafeteria to get something to eat and would be back in a while.
I walked in and sat next to Scott's bed.
"How are you doing?" I asked. "Any pain?"
"No, I'm ok." he said. He was a lot calmer than before.
"Jason is a really nice guy." I said.
"Yes, he's very nice." Scott said, blushing and grinning at the same time.
"He's very worried about you. He's asked me to see about finding a home for you." I said.
"Yes, he told me. I told him I don't think anyone is going to want a 16 year old faggot with AIDS." he said, his head dropping.
"Now that enough of that!" I snapped and his head came up. "You are NOT a faggot! I don't want to ever hear that word out of your mouth again! You're gay. The same as I am. And the same as Jason is! Are you calling him a faggot? I refuse to let anybody label me by that word and it's about time you stopped as well! And you don't have AIDS! You're HIV+. You may never have AIDS. You may well live long enough for a cure to be found. And why do you think that nobody would want you? Just because those assholes who biologically created you don't? I just saw a very beautiful young man leave this room who evidently wants you very much!" I couldn't help myself, the frustration of the day came out.
I could see the tears falling from Scott's eyes again. Oh fucking great! Every time I get with this kid I make him cry! This is getting things off to a great start!
"Do you really think so?" he asked quietly through his tears.
"Really think so, what?" I asked, confused by his question.
"Do you really think Jason wants me?" he asked, his tear-filled eyes begging me to say 'yes'.
"I've seen that look that Jason has when he looks at you before, one other time. It was the way Ty looked at me the first time we were about to have sex. Yes, I'm sure that he wants you. Just as I'm positive that you want him." I told him honestly.
"Oh, God! We don't have a chance, do we! I'm going to die! I can't let him fall in love with me!" he said, wailing in tears.
I grabbed him and held him in my arms while he cried. When he had calmed down some, I began speaking to him very quietly.
"You have every chance in the world. You are not going to die! At least not anytime soon. And I'm sorry to tell this to you, babe, but everybody is going to die! We just don't know when. You could outlive Jason, you know! And as far as 'letting' him fall in love with you - you don't have a fucking choice in the matter. You can't control how somebody else feels. You can either accept their love or reject it, but you can't stop it." I told him.
"But what am I going to do? What's going to become of me? Jason can't get out of the Marines for two years! What do I do until then?" he asked, looking at me, his face stained with his tears.
"Well, that's what I came in here to talk to you about. If two gay males, a couple, were to offer to let you live with them, would you be willing to abide by their rules and go back to school?" I asked.
He looked at me with growing awareness.
"You mean you and your lover, don't you?" he asked.
"Well, yes. But my lover doesn't know anything about this yet. I haven't had a chance to talk to him. And it's going to be up to him whether or not we are willing to do this. I just want to know if you're willing?" I asked.
"What kind of rules?" he asked suspiciously. I could see the street hustler coming out.
I took my arms from around him and looked him in the eyes.
"Before we start, I want to get one thing VERY clear! This is NOT about sex! Neither Ty or I am interested in having sex with you." I told him.
"I know, because of the HIV." he said despondently.
"No! Because you're fucking 16 years old!" I all but screamed at him. "And frankly, we have about all we can handle just keeping each other satisfied." I grinned at him.
He got the hint and smiled back.
"Ok, so what rules?" he asked.
"First of all, if you did drugs out there on the street, forget them! I ever catch you with drugs in our house, you're out on your pretty ass!" I said.
"No, I didn't do drugs. They were offered all the time but I was scared to do them. I used to get drunk, but I didn't even like that. I just did it so that I could deal with some of the johns I had to deal with." he said, hanging his head.
I reached over and lifted his chin so that he would look at me.
"That wasn't your fault! I would have to be pretty drunk to go with somebody I didn't want just because I wanted to eat." I said.
He smiled at me. I think I was the first person, other than Jason that wasn't judging him.
"Now, about the rest. You will have a curfew and you will have to follow it. Either Ty or me will know where you are at all times. And we will decide who you're allowed to go out with and who you're not as well as where." I said.
"You don't have to worry about that. I don't have any friends." he said sadly.
"Well, I expect that's going to change. Nobody as good looking as you are is going to be without people who want to be friends with him for long. And, besides, I think you do have one." I said, reminding him about Jason.
"Will I be allowed to see Jason?" he asked.
"Yes, if Jason wants to see you and you want to see him." I said.
"Oh! I do want to see him!" he bubbled.
"And as far as that's concerned, what do you know about safe sex? You know you can infect other people if you're not careful." I said.
"I know a lot about it. We had classes in school. I just didn't care when I was out there. If some guy wanted to fuck me without a condom and would pay triple my rate, I'd let him. I needed the money. I'm so sorry now." he said, starting to cry again.
I took him back into my arms. I couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through. My own heart was breaking at the thought of someone so young burdened with that awful virus!
"Look, we're going to do everything we can to keep you healthy for a long, long time, Scott. I promise!" I swore to him.
He clung to me harder.
"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked.
"I guess because I can't stand to see someone as sweet as your are just thrown away. You didn't ask to be born gay. None of us did. And nobody should have to live what you've lived through, no matter what their age. And, I guess, because I see an awful lot of myself in you. What I would have become if I'd had parents like yours." I said.
He reached up and gently kissed me on the cheek.
"Nobody's ever done anything like this for me. I don't know how to thank you." he said.
"You live and be the best Scott that you can be! That's how you thank me! And let's not talk about thanks just yet. I still have got to sell this whole thing to Ty!" I told him.
"I have a feeling that Ty has never been able to say no to you." he smiled.
"You know? Come to think of it, you're right!" I laughed and hugged him to me.
The end of Part 7 of THE MARINE NEXT DOOR
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